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One can't help but feel that 2015 was a transformational year for the Athletic Trainer. The positive changes were abundant: the phrase "Athletic Trainer" (not just "Trainer") appearing in the media with regularity, an increasing understanding of the role ATCs play in player safety by coaches, players, and parents, and the recognition that having an ATC on the sidelines is no longer a luxury but, rather, a necessary and logical piece of the puzzle. We've even seen the movement of Athletic Trainers from one professional sports franchise to another make the same kind of news that used to be reserved for players and managers.

In December of 2015, CSMi emailed a link to this year's online survey to nearly 9,000 Athletic Trainers in the United States. This report summarizes the nearly 500 responses to that survey. All respondents (96% of whom work in either high school or college settings) were kept anonymous. With that anonymity, our goal was to gather honest answers to sometimes difficult questions, as well as comments that would illustrate the unique challenges faced by Athletic Trainers.

If the results teach us anything, it's that the landscape for Athletic Trainers is constantly changing, and 2016 promises to be another year in which the ATC is pushed closer to the spotlight.